Frank Tenpenny

Frank Tenpenny (died 1992) was a Los Angeles Police Department officer who was the head of C.R.A.S.H., a special police unit devoted to fighting against violent street crime in Los Angeles. Tenpenny was notoriously corrupt, often using gangs for his own benefit, and his acquittal of murder charges in court led to the destructive Los Angeles Riots. Tenpenny died when his firetruck veered off a bridge in Compton while he was fleeing Carl Johnson and Grove Street Families gangsters.

Biography
Frank Tenpenny was born in Los Angeles, California to a family of African-Americans, and he grew up on the rough streets of L.A., which influenced the way that he thought. Tenpenny married a woman from the same area and joined the Los Angeles Police Department, and he had a reputation as a corrupt and brutal cop who had crossed paths with the Grove Street Families member Carl Johnson a few times before 1992. Eventually, he was promoted to lead C.R.A.S.H., a law enforcement unit of the LAPD that was supposed to fight against street hoodlums.

Leader of C.R.A.S.H.
However, Tenpenny and his second-in-command Eddie Pulaski were both corrupt, forcing the street gangs to give them a cut of their profits, and also using the gangs to fight other gangs. Tenpenny maintained control of the gang situation by ensuring that none of them were stronger than the other, taking advantage of his leverage on them to force them to do his bidding. His methods were extremely illegal, and he had officer Ralph Pendelbury executed by new recruit Jimmy Hernandez to prevent him from ratting C.R.A.S.H. out to Internal Affairs, as well as to initiate Hernandez into C.R.A.S.H..

Blackmailing CJ
Coincidentally, Pendlebury's murder occurred ten minutes before Carl Johnson left his plane at Los Angeles International Airport to return to his home for his mother's funeral, and Tenpenny threatened to frame him for the murder unless he would work for him. In addition, he took CJ's money and luggage and dropped him in the middle of Rollin' Heights Ballas country, and CJ had to fend for himself as he escaped the Ballas gang. Tenpenny would frequently visit Grove Street and force the Grove Street Families to work for him, and he had a secret partnership with Big Smoke, whom he had convinced to betray Grove Street and kill Carl Johnson's mother. Tenpenny kidnapped CJ after his brother Sweet Johnson was arrested and Big Smoke's betrayal revealed, and Tenpenny took him to the remote Whetstone area and told him to take out an FBI informant. CJ would do this, and Tenpenny would have him perform various tasks in the wilderness and San Francisco area; CJ's survival of each mission made Tenpenny and Pulaski more on-edge. They eventually decided to have him and Hernandez dig their own graves, as Hernandez had also reported to internal affairs. A drunk Pulaski refused to believe that Tenpenny would also kill him, and he decided to execute CJ; he shot Hernandez when he jumped at him to help CJ out, but CJ would avenge Hernandez by killing Pulaski.

The Los Angeles Riots and death
Soon after, Tenpenny was subjected to a trial for his crimes, and he was tried for murder. In a famous televised trial, Tenpenny was found innocent, leading to people all across Los Angeles rioting. The deadly "Los Angeles Riots" left 55 dead, 2,000+ wounded, and 11,000+ in prison, with people carrying television sets to throw at people, burning down buildings, carjacking and attacking people, and engaging in anarchist behavior. The US 1st Marine Division and US 7th Infantry Division were called in to put down the unrest, but the violence continued for about a week. Big Smoke was killed at his crack palace by CJ during the riots, and Tenpenny tried to set the building on fire to kill CJ. However, he escaped and chased Tenpenny down, with Tenpenny driving a firetruck. CJ chased Tenpenny until he veered off of an overpass into the Grove Street cul-de-sac, and he was mortally wounded. He taunted CJ, telling him that fifty men like him could save the city, but he died of a heart attack caused by his injuries. Tenpenny's body was mutilated and stripped by the rioters, and the riots came to an end as the result of his death.